posted 03-23-2009 09:48 PM
I am planning to attend an upcoming event honoring Adm. Mattingly. Any experiences or advice regarding his willingness to sign and/or pose for a photo? I only have one item to ask him to sign.

Rob JoynerMember

Posts: 1308From: GA, USARegistered: Jan 2004

posted 03-24-2009 04:07 PM
I met him a few years ago at an Astronaut Scholarship Foundation gala and he seemed to really enjoy it. He grinned from ear to ear all night.

Before and after the dinner Mattingly shook hands, signed autographs and posed for photos too.

cpd201Member

Posts: 14From: North CarolinaRegistered: Jan 2007

posted 03-24-2009 04:19 PM
I too met Mattingly at the ASF a few years ago and he was happy to pose for a few pictures with me and my kids and signed a few things for us. Very nice man.

setMember

Posts: 43From: Atlanta, GARegistered: Oct 2007

posted 03-26-2009 07:39 PM
I just wanted to follow up on my message. Today, my wife and I drove down to Auburn University to see the NASA Ambassador of Space Exploration Award Presented to Adm. Mattingly. The award consisted of a lucite encased moon rock from the A16 mission that was "allocated" to Adm. Mattingly to give to the educational institution or museum of his choice. He chose the Aerospace Engineering School at his alma mater, Auburn.

The ceremony was very nice - the dean spoke, as did Christopher Scolese, the acting NASA Administrator, and then Adm. Mattingly. Then there was a lecture on the past and future of space exploration given by Scolese and Mattingly, followed by a "meet and greet".

It was a very well done ceremony, and the lecture was interesting as well. I had never before met Adm. Mattingly, and I came away very impressed. He was charming, talkative, funny, basically everything you could ask for. He talked with my wife and me for 10 minutes at the meet and greet, and was great about photos and signing items. He completed for me my Apollo 16 mission emblem crew-signed beta cloth (thanks to Kim Poor for advice on the proper writing instrument).

A fantastic day and a great experience.

dss65Member

Posts: 1067From: Sandpoint, ID, USARegistered: Mar 2003

posted 03-26-2009 08:56 PM
It sounds like it was a great experience. Congratulations!

steelhead fly fishingMember

Posts: 29From: Cape Canaveral, FLRegistered: Aug 2010

posted 07-07-2011 12:34 PM
Any update or suggestions on getting Adm. Mattingly's autograph on a a multi-signed item? I would love to meet him in person as well as get his autograph. It seems he has been tougher to locate recently.

cosmos-walterMember

Posts: 646From: Salzburg, AustriaRegistered: Jun 2003

posted 07-11-2011 05:17 PM
I would like to get Ken Mattingly to sign two outstanding Apollo 16 space covers for my collection. Is anybody of you able to help me?

steelhead fly fishingMember

Posts: 29From: Cape Canaveral, FLRegistered: Aug 2010

posted 07-20-2011 02:58 PM
It seems from the lack of replies on this topic that Adm. Mattingly is moving to the Schmitt and Anders category of being harder autographs to obtain as time goes on.

It seems there are plenty of items signed in the past but anything from this point forward will be a challenge. Any updates, advice, or words of wisdom are appreciated.

ilbassoMember

Posts: 1519From: Greensboro, NC USARegistered: Feb 2006

posted 07-20-2011 03:31 PM
All I can say is that you have to catch him in person, and that in person he signs freely and gladly. He was hanging around the National Air and Space Museum galleries and signing autographs the day of the Apollo 13 anniversary discussion in which he took part later that evening. I'm kicking myself that I missed him that day!

steelhead fly fishingMember

Posts: 29From: Cape Canaveral, FLRegistered: Aug 2010

posted 03-02-2012 03:47 PM

quote:Originally posted by ilbasso:All I can say is that you have to catch him in person, and that in person he signs freely and gladly.

The advice from this post really paid off.

Today, I added Adm. Mattingly to my over-sized 20x24 Apollo 8 multi0-signed earthrise. I now have 14 Apollo astronauts that went to the moon.

He was very gracious and accommodating after a presentation he gave. I didn't attend the event but was in town on business. I was lucky enough to wait and see him post speech.

He had been on my list for awhile. This is also my best bargain as he added his mission. It's true, if you can catch him in person he signs freely.

spaced outMember

Posts: 2996From: Paris, FranceRegistered: Aug 2003

posted 03-03-2012 02:24 AM
It's really a shame he doesn't see the upside of doing a through-the-mail signing (for charity, say) for those who have no way of meeting him in person.

His current system of signing in person only is generous but open to severe abuse by those that can trail around after him getting signatures on items to then sell-on for significant sums (not talking about any of the above people in this respect obviously).

Daugherty54Member

Posts: 505From: Cabot, Arkansas, USARegistered: Sep 2010

posted 03-04-2012 08:00 AM
Does anyone know where he might have a schedule posted? I know we have the sightings posts here but ...any other help would be appreciated.

Robert PearlmanEditor

Posts: 39008From: Houston, TXRegistered: Nov 1999

posted 03-04-2012 08:12 AM
When public appearances are known, they appear on Mattingly's Sightings page.

posted 06-29-2012 11:16 AM
I'm not more deserving of Ken Mattingly's autograph than any other collector, but I have to ask if anyone by any chance has an "in" with him that would help me get an autograph request to him. Mailing it to him would be nice, but I'd be willing to travel pretty far to an event where he'll be appearing (since he's usually kind enough to sign in person) or just to meet him if he's traveling near Virginia.

You see, I have a postal cover with a shuttle cachet signed by quite a few astronauts.

If Mattingly were to sign it (along with Hank Hartsfield, who signs pretty regularly), this item would have the complete crews of the ALT flights and STS-1 through STS-4. Then, if just four more signed it, it would have the commanders of every mission all the way through STS-20 and it would be the centerpiece of my shuttle astronauts collection. (But I won't try to achieve that until it has Mattingly.)

I know that when he does sign in person, he does so for free, but I would be willing to make a contribution to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in his name if he were to sign this for me. I have another item I would also like him to sign, but this cover is the more important one.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can e-mail me with useful information.

cosmos-walterMember

Posts: 646From: Salzburg, AustriaRegistered: Jun 2003

posted 02-02-2014 03:27 AM
I have two special Apollo 16 covers signed by John Young and Charlie Duke. For completion I would allow up to as much as $500 each. Does anybody of you have an idea how to collect Ken Mattingly's signature?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

crashMember

Posts: 276From: West Sussex, EnglandRegistered: Jan 2011

posted 02-02-2014 03:34 AM
For that amount of money I would grab a lecture ticket for the Ken Mattingly lecture in Pontefract, book a cheap flight ticket to London/Manchester (though I appreciate that Salzburg is not as well connected as Vienna) and get at least one signed in person.

Yes, it will probably cost more but you will have at least heard and met the man personally.

cosmos-walterMember

Posts: 646From: Salzburg, AustriaRegistered: Jun 2003

posted 02-02-2014 03:58 AM
Paul, thank you very much for this proposal. I was not aware of this Ken Mattingly lecture. Unfortunately lecture and dinner combi tickets which would allow two signatures are already sold out.

Rick MulheirnMember

Posts: 3764From: EnglandRegistered: Feb 2001

posted 02-02-2014 08:11 AM
Buy two lecture tickets and that entitles you to two autographs. I am sure you could find somebody to fill the second seat and in return for a free lecture get your second item signed. Just an idea.

cosmos-walterMember

Posts: 646From: Salzburg, AustriaRegistered: Jun 2003

posted 02-03-2014 07:43 PM
I already booked my flight to Manchester as well as ticket for Ken Mattingly's lecture. See you in Pontefract!

posted 04-13-2014 03:35 PM
I enjoyed Ken Mattingly's speech at Pontefract very much. With the aid of a now-friend Ken Mattingly signed both my special Apollo 16 covers. Without cS I had not heard about this great event. Thank you for your support!

cosmos-walterMember

Posts: 646From: Salzburg, AustriaRegistered: Jun 2003

posted 04-22-2014 11:23 AM
Here is one of my two covers:

velocityMember

Posts: 18From: ScotlandRegistered: Oct 2017

posted 03-05-2018 05:42 PM
Does anyone happen to know if Ken Mattingly still signs autographs and/or if he has any events planned?

Apart from the privilege of meeting him, I have an item that I would love to get him to sign. Been waiting a long time, but not managed to find an event that he is scheduled to appear at.